Retro "Flair"

I feel like blogging about our...wait for it...OVEN!!

I bet you've never seen anything quite like this fine piece of kitchen art!

One thing we've learned about "Grandma and Grandpa Stade," the couple who lived in this farmhouse most of their lives before us, is they were very frugal, creative people who were great at "repurposing" things. They were wise enough to know, however, what to pay a little more for up front to ensure quality and longevity. This oven was one of those purchases for them. Grandma Stade loved to cook and cooked harvest meals, fed her farmer husband and the extended family frequently, so she needed a workhorse of an appliance to keep up with her demands.

The answer to Grandma Stade's cooking needs was a Frigidaire "Custom Imperial" Flair, made by General Motors. I'd say they made a good purchase, considering the fact that it has provided at least 50 years (if not more) of serious use! I don't know the exact age, but from looking around on the internet, the Custom Imperial Flair is considered a '60's model. However, I believe Jeff told me his Grandma purchased it in the '50's.

I did not know how to feel about this fine piece of equipment when we moved into the farmhouse, quite honestly. The fact that it looks like it's right out of a Leave it to Beaver episode and is the quaint, fashionable "burnt orange" that was oh-so-popular back in the day meant that I could consider it either way...play it up as cool and retro, or write it off as another renovation the farmhouse needed to be up-to-date. (Actually, a "Flair" was featured in a Bewitched episode back in the day as the "thing" to have)

And so my love/hate relationship, or should I say hate/love relationship, with the Custom Imperial Flair began.

I used the oven only at first and quickly discovered only the small oven worked, or so I thought, for 3 months anyway. Everyone at the farm came over and looked it over, because Stacy, Jeff and Cheryl (Grandma Stade's daughter) swore both ovens worked. I had discovered to my dismay, in the meantime, that the smaller oven was NOT big enough to cook a Papa Murphy's pizza in...or any other pizza for that matter. And I couldn't fit a casserole dish more than 8x8 or all but one of my pans in that one, small oven.

Cheryl called the one electrician in the are that was handy and knowledgeable enough to fix this oven. Sure that he was going to either fix the oven or tell me it was a lost cause, he called me over to explain the situation. He politely explained to me that the bulb did need to be replaced in one of the ovens, but sometimes the knobs on the top of the oven can get turned the wrong way. When those knobs get turned the wrong way, the oven appears NOT to be working. So there I was this whole time thinking it was broken, when all it needed was a turn of a couple knobs to cook a pizza. I'm sure I blushed when the electrician explained, because I felt completely foolish.

I celebrated that night by bringing home some Papa Murphy's pizzas and cooking them. The Frigidaire Custom Imperial Flair had me when it turned out a perfectly-cooked pizza crust! My despise for this unintentional focal point of my kitchen turned to love. Cooking a big meal is so nice now, because I have two separate ovens to use now. I can cook one dish at a certain temperature, and a second dish at another simultaneously!

The "sneaky" range worked from the get-go, and I like it. You wouldn't know this sleek piece of General Motor glory has 4 burners under the hood...but it does! When you want to cook on the range, you push a button and pull the range out. When done, you just push it back into hiding.

Ovens at eye level are great, too! I like being able to tell if I'm burning something without bending down. The oven doors open "up" instead of "down," which kind of remind me of how the Back to the Future's DeLorean "time machine" doors opened. The only technical drawback is that the doors are stopped short from opening fully because the range hood stops them. But the range hood doesn't work, so it's all okay.

I'm afraid I cannot do the farmhouse's Frigidaire Custom Imperial Flair anymore justice using mere words. If you're over sometime you've GOT to ask for a demonstration. You will surely be...speechless! ;)